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22 May 2012

Coffee On The Lawn

Today the essential morning coffee was taken in the flower meadow under the silver birch by the pond.

Of course the ‘meadow’ is really a patch of unmown lawn with some daffs growing in it, and the pond is still traumatised, but if you squint it was almost like a scene from a Merchant Ivory film. I am so grateful to have a garden in which I can sit for a moment and feel some peace.

The water level of the pond has fallen a great deal but it is still a mystery where the tear in the liner is or what caused it. The fish have come out of hiding now the weather is warmer. There are 6 of them when last year there were 8 orange ones (shubunkins I think) and one grizzled orfe that I nicknamed Charles Bronson. Unfortunately it looks like he and 2 of his flashy mates have been eaten, by cat or heron I don’t know. It is difficult to work out how either managed to put a hole in the pond liner. I can’t imagine a cat’s claw being strong enough to rip that strong plastic. And would the attack by a heron be so violent it could result in its beak stabbing through? Maybe the reason is just an ordinary area of decay in a fold or something fell in and ripped a hole. Come to think of it I did rescue a bird feeder that somehow had gotten to the bottom of the pond. But then how did that happen? Curiouser and curiouser.

At the moment the plan is to let the level drop as far as it will go. The course of action after that is open to debate ... and a lot of procrastination.

The deep end of the pond has a stack of bricks acting as a platform for the frogs to get out. Now the water level has fallen I took the top stone off to make it easy for them to climb up. This revealed some nasties – leeches and water slaters (or water sows) and some other things I can’t identify. Since I’ve started this blog I’ve enjoyed learning about the wasps and bees and grubs that appear, but crawly things in water don’t have the same appeal.

I’ll leave you with the photos. You can go google them if you want. I don’t think I want to know the results.